Welcome to my blog—an eyes-open, no holds barred exploration of Western and Eastern spirituality, mindfulness, philosophy and literature. A member of the Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association, I lectured at the NSW Institute of Psychiatry (now the Health Education and Training Institute) to mental health workers for 14 years and at the University of Technology, Sydney to law students for 16 years. My interests include metaphysics, mythology and addiction recovery.

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

The Bible makes it clear that stillness leads to
knowledge of the Divine (that is, the sacred and holy), for it is written, ‘Be still, and know that I am God’
(Ps 46:10). They are wonderful words, especially
the first two words—‘Be still.’ You see, there is really nothing to do. Just—be still. Start with the body, and the mind will become
still as well.

When conducting retreats or
leading group meditations I often take the abovementioned verse and progressively break it up, as follows:

‘Be
still, and know that I am God.’

‘Be
still, and know that I am.’

‘Be
still, and know.’

‘Be
still.’

'Be.'

Who or what is God, you may ask? Some theological construct, unconnected with reality? Well, if you think that God is a giant man or woman 'up there' or 'out there', that is, some supra-personal, supernatural person or being with a face, body,
arms, legs and genitalia, then you are horribly mistaken. Here is an
insightful passage from the 3rd chapter of the book of Exodus in the Bible, in which Moses enquires as to who or what God actually is:

13 Then Moses said to God,
‘Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to
them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to me,
‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?’ 14 And God said to Moses, ‘I
AM THAT I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I
AM has sent me to you.’’

In other words, God, the Great I AM, is saying,
‘I AM pure Be-ing,' 'I AM the Great No-Thing,' 'I AM unformed, undifferentiated consciousness.' That is the name and nature of God. Being the All Being, the Great I AM is the infinite, incorporeal, self-sufficient, self-perpetuating, ever-present Being of all. I AM that which is. I AM that which I AM. The words 'I AM'
refer preeminently to the subject of all existence (namely, the unlimited and ineffable, egoistically conscious Omnipresence), although the words also refer to the object. The subject and object are one. The Bible says that I AM is
God. In India the I AM is called Om. God – the very essence and be-ing-ness of life itself – becomes, or rather is, what
God has said that which God is. ‘I AM THAT [WHICH] I AM.’ I AM = I AM. God is. We are. We are all children of the Great I AM, the Divine Fire, the basic ALL of existence.

Mitre Peak, Milford Sound, New Zealand

I AM THAT I AM. That is the nature of God as revealed in the Hebrew Bible and expounded in metaphysics. The words describe and encapsulate the Omnipresence and Omnipotence of the Divine declaring Itself---to Itself.
This is the self-knowingness and self-consciousness of God, the Great I AM. We, too, can be conscious –
or rather self-conscious – of that very same I AM-ness, because each one of us is a divine spark, and that same I AM-ness is the very
ground of our be-ing-ness. It is the ground of all be-ing-ness.
It is the ALL-in-all ... the ALL-ness of all.

Yes, God – pure Be-ing – is the one formless, sourceless, essenceless, unlimited, unsearchable, self-existent, self-knowing, self-giving, absolute, omnipresent, indestructible, and abundant existence that forever takes form, that is,
incarnates, as you, me, and everything else, but which is never even
for a moment absorbed by the innumerable objects of its self-expression. What I am trying to say is that the I AM within you, and within all living things, is the only Presence there is. That Presence, which manifests itself as the Eternal Now, is forever creating, by an endless process or renewal of the present moment, an infinite number of centres of its own consciousness. The Great I AM is the creativeness of the universe as well as being the source of own our creativeness.

God – if you choose to use the word at all, for that's up to you to decide – is thelifethat is thesubjectof true existence, the very life that
lies within, and otherwise manifests itself through and as objects,
being all persons and things---the very livingness, or rather self-livingness,
of life itself. Put perhaps more
simply, you are I AM in expression, as you. In the
words of the minister and author Eric Butterworth, you are an 'eachness'
within the ALL-ness of God.

But I AM not your human mind, nor its child, the intellect. They are but the
expression of your Being, as you are
the expression of My Being; they are
but phases of your human personality, as You are a phase of My Divine
Impersonality.

… … …

… I AM because You Are. You ARE
because I AM expressing My SELF.

I AM in You as the oak is in the
acorn. You are a phase of Me in expression.

… … …I AM the Tree of Life within you.

Each one of us is both an inlet and an outlet of life's
self-expression. The ‘us’ in us – the ‘AM-ness’ of us – is not separate from
life, rather it is life, or
being-ness, itself unfolding from one moment to the next. Whenever we affirm ‘I
am …’ we are affirming our being-ness, our I AM-ness, our true spiritual identity. We are saying, 'I AM alive. I AM here. I AM aware that I AM alive and that I AM here. I exist.' You see, the 'I AM' is both universal and individual, for whatever we attach to our I AM-ness, we become. Yes, what we put after those two words 'I am ... ' shapes our reality for better or for worse.

Now, trained as I was as a lawyer and scholar (ugh), I used to think that one could come to know God through academic
study and the use of reason and the intellect. Well, that will take you some of the way, like to the end of the proverbial runway but not up into the air. After many years of suffering and self-defeat, I have learned this — the best way to know God is to be … still!

Meditate. Get really still. Be silent. Say nothing. Let the mind go into neutral, so to speak. Let composure creep all over you. Feel your
AM-ness pulsate through your arteries and veins. Breathe in more of that AM-ness. In time,
you will come to know your very AM-ness as the ALL-ness of existence
individualized in and as you. God is pure
Be-ing, and we have our be-ing-ness in God, as the Christian mystics say. 'For in
him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17:28). There is only
one way of be-ing. Call it the ALL-ness of God, if you like. Your AM-ness,
which is a small part of that immense, boundless and infinite ALL-ness, enables you to say, ‘I am …’, and
‘I know … .’ Know this, 'I AM come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly' (Jn 10:10). What's more, this I AM-Presence within you and as you is with you always, even to the very end of the age (cf Mt 28:20).I AM is the Eternal Now, unbound by time and space. 'Before Abraham was, I AM' (Jn 8:58).

Be still! — and know— I AM — God.

The photographs of Mitre Peak, the lotus flowerand the cactus flower were taken by the author.

COPYRIGHT---TERMS OF USE---DISCLAIMER

COPYRIGHT: There is no intention to infringe copyright in respect of any copyrighted material; if any person believes there is or may be an infringement of their copyrighted material on any page of this website please advise me by email and any offending material will be removed immediately.

TERMS OF USE AND DISCLAIMER: By and in using this blog, which includes but is not limited to all posts as well as all material linked to those posts as well as to any other parts of the blog ("this Site"), the user agrees to the following Terms of Use and Disclaimer:

The purpose of this Site is to give information by way of general comment only, which is not designed to be comprehensive, but which may be of interest to some or all of the public ("the Information"). Ian Ellis-Jones ("IEJ") may amend and also update the material on this Site from time to time but does not guarantee that any of the material is current. The Information does not constitute, and is not intended to be, professional advice, whether of a healthcare kind or otherwise, nor is it intended to be relied upon as a basis for action on the part of any individual in respect of any matter in relation to which there could be loss or damage. Any professional advice of whatever kind sought must be tailored to the user’s specific circumstances. There has been no consideration given as to whether any or all of the Information is appropriate for you. You should not act upon any of the Information without first taking specific advice on your own particular circumstances. IEJ is not, and does not hold himself out as, a medical practitioner. Neither IEJ nor any person or company with whom or with which he is associated makes or gives any representation or warranty of any kind regarding the Information, which is not intended to be a replacement or substitute for professional healthcare or advice of a doctor of medicine or other health care professional. If needed, such advice should be obtained through the services of a competent healthcare or other professional. IEJ as well as all persons and companies with whom and with which he is associated disclaim and do not accept any liability for the decisions you make based on any Information contained on or or linked to this Site or for any loss or damage arising directly or indirectly from action taken, or not taken, in reliance of or upon any or all of the Information but expressly exclude completely and unequivocally any and all such liability. No guarantee is made or given that the material on this Site is free from computer viruses or other defects. No responsibility is accepted for any viruses that may infect the user's computer or any damages to the user's property on account of the user's use of this Site. Certain links in this Site may connect to other websites maintained by third parties over whom IEJ or any other person or company with whom or with which he is associated has no control. Accordingly, no representations or warranties are made or given as to the accuracy or any other aspect of information contained in other websites. Finally, this blog is the personal work of IEJ and has no affiliation with his law firm, his company Ellis-Jones Enterprises Pty Limited, his colleagues or any other person, company or body with whom or with which he is associated including but not limited to the New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry and any and all clients.

European Union (EU) laws require that EU visitors to this site be given information about cookies used on the blog. For more information on Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies on the blog, including Google Analytics and AdSense cookies, please read Google’s privacy practices and how Google uses data on partner sites.

CREATIVE COMMONS

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License. Click on CC logo for details.